Uttarakhand's new chief minister is a man in a hurry

Rawat has already held a series of cabinet meetings also setting deadlines for finishing the reconstruction works

It is not common for a newly appointed chief minister to launch a six-page ad campaign to highlight his government’s “new thinking and direction”. At least not within 10 days of taking charge. But Harish Rawat, who became the chief minister of Uttarakhand on February 1, has done exactly that.

Not just that. Rawat is busy inaugurating development programmes as well as laying foundation stones for projects.

As many as 600 new projects worth Rs 1,803 crore in all the 13 districts of the state have been inaugurated so far, Rawat said on Sunday. Late on Sunday night, the new chief minister made impromptu inspections at some police stations and government hospitals. Rawat also visited the Dehradun Railway station to inspect the facilities being provided to passengers.

There is a reason why Rawat is in such a tearing hurry. Panchayat elections in Uttarakhand are due next month and the code of conduct will kick in on February 20. The ad campaign is also planned ahead of the elections.

Explaining the reconstruction work in the wake of the mid-June deluge, Rawat said the worst-affected areas have been divided into eight special zones headed by sub-divisional magistrates who can undertake projects up to Rs 5 crore. The Kedarnath-Rambara area has been declared as “very special zone”.

Rawat had on Saturday laid the foundation stones for 15 different projects worth Rs 263.75 crore in the Landhora constituency of Haridwar district.

Despite facing flak from his opponents in the ruling Congress such as Satpal Maharaj, Rawat has remained unperturbed and extremely busy since he took over as CM some 10 days ago, addressing scores of rallies and meeting the disaster-affected people in both Garhwal and Kumaon regions. Maharaj had accused Rawat of ‘grabbing power through ‘pressure tactics’.

Unmindful of such criticism, Rawat has also held a series of Cabinet meetings. He has set deadlines for finishing the reconstruction work.

Take the 15-km damaged trek between Gaurikund and Kedarnath shrine, for instance, which Rawat said should be reconstructed before the commencement of the Chardham yatra in May. Similarly, he has set a one-month deadline to distribute the remaining compensation among disaster-affected people.